Talks and Translations
by ShivaVixen
Summary: Prime. Wreckers look after Wreckers, even if it’s just by talking. Besides, Wheeljack isn’t going to listen to just anyone on how he should behave around Bulkhead’s tiny wrecker.


**Because sometimes names don't translate well between languages, and nicknames are near universal. Drabble-ish, it's just an idea I had, and may one day expand on this.**

Miko hesitated only for a minute before hitting the call button.

"Kid, I didn't think you were allowed to talk to me." Wheeljack answered.

"Only one that can tell me who not to talk to is Bulk, and I don't think he'd ever cut you off." Miko gave a weak smile despite knowing no one could see it. "I'm sorry I didn't speak up for you before..."

"Kid, Miko, that wasn't your fault." Wheeljack sighed. "It was just a matter of time before I rubbed someone the wrong way."

"It was at least half my choice, though. You shouldn't..." Miko bit her lip, stopping a sob. "Ratch says Bulk's scans are improving, I'll keep you posted on the recovery."

"Thanks Kid, that means a lot." Wheeljack didn't press the sudden change of topic, it had been a long time since his first kill, a long time since his first loss of a comrade, but he remembered the uncertainty, the need to find something to hold onto. The Kid was a little wrecker, and she was reaching out to the only other wrecker on the planet for help. He wasn't going to ignore her when she needed someone to talk to.

"Hey Wheeljack, Bulkhead onlined his optics for a bit," Miko called a couple days later, "but Docbot says that might've been my imagination."

"Told ya, Bulk won't quit on us."

Most of her reports went that route, minor improvements, occasionally the small flux of a setback.

Then one day, Miko called crying, cutting the call short without giving any updates.

Wheeljack paused in the middle of the diagnostic on his ship. He'd been studying the local life forms through the electronic footprints they left, and anytime someone was crying with someone they cared about in the repair bay, wasn't a good thing. There were a lot of possibilities, the worst of which was Bulkhead offlining.

It took Wheeljack a moment to get the Jackhammer in the air and en route to Jasper.

Miko was a wrecker, human and young, but still a wrecker, and wreckers looked after their own.

It was near midnight when Wheeljack finally rolled into Jasper, and it took longer to find Miko's home address. He flashed his headlights and revved his engine, and for a moment he thought he'd made a mistake, before a window opened and Miko's head poked out.

It didn't take long for her to scramble down a drain pipe and run over to him, all but diving into his front seat.

"Talk to me, Kid." Wheeljack started driving. "What happened?"

"Bulk woke up. Even recognized me, but ... something happened... he had like a seizure, or something, then he ... he looked at me, told me 'It's okay Joyride' and seized again." Miko fought back tears. "Ratchet said there was damage to a line or something."

"Scrap." The Tox-En must've curdled fluid in either the hydraulic or Energon lines, causing it to lump up in the line. "Have they fixed it?"

"Dunno, Optimus took me home." Miko whimpered.

They drove in silence for a while. Finally, Miko cleared her throat. "Who's Joyride?"

Relieved at the choice of topic, Wheeljack chuckled. "That's you Kid."

"Huh?"

"You know how you have so many languages on this planet? And that sometimes things don't really translate from one language to another?"

"Tell me about it, English is my second language." Miko gave a weak smile.

"Your name, 'Miko', doesn't really translate well into cybertronian. The sound of your name translates into pretty much clicking, and if we translated the meaning, we'd end up with 'Petioner', which doesn't suit your personality. On Cybertron, bots were mostly named for personality, interests, or even jobs they were onlined for, with a handful of exceptions. Since Bulk's your guardian, he picked out a nickname for you when using our language. So, 'Joyride' is you." Wheeljack explained.

"Really? So Raf and Jack have them?"

"Yep, Raf's full name, 'Rafael' actually translates pretty well to our language, but translating it back changes it slightly, 'PatchJob' or 'PatchUp' being the best translations, Bumblebee calls him 'Patch' so I don't know which version he picked. Jack's a unique case, his name already sounds like a cybertronian name, but it's one of the more common ones." Wheeljack felt Miko settle into the seat, listening to him talk.

"Jack's a pretty common name on earth too." Miko noted. "But his full name is 'Jackson' does that change anything?"

"Not much, at least, not in the way you're thinking." Wheeljack pulled up to the Jackhammer. "How about you? Do our names change when translated to your first language?"

"Not really, Optimus' name doesn't really translate, because it's not english and I have no idea how to translate whatever it is." Miko hopped out and Wheeljack transformed, stopping only to pick her up so she was closer to his head. She yawned, and continued. "Been tempted to start calling Jack a different name, just to see his reaction."

"Bet that would be funny. You should do it." Wheeljack set her gently down on the chair, and started up another diagnostic. Miko giggled.

"Yeah, that ... would be funny." Miko's voice trailed off, and Wheeljack looked down to see her asleep.

"Recharge well, Joyride, I'm on watch." Wheeljack assured the small sleeping form. He'd take her back to her house when she woke up, but for now, he'd watch over her.

 **So, I couldn't come up with a name for Jack. Other than that, I kinda wanted a bonding piece between Wheeljack and Miko.**

 **'Joyride' is an actual G1 transformer, who has a bad habit of charging in when he shouldn't. (Sound familiar?)** **Raf's name was going to be Hubcap, who's a communications Autobot, but I decided to go medical because 'Rafael' means 'God has healed' and fit the theme of translations.**


End file.
